Junior Journalist: Happy to be stuck with you

Art has always been a big part of our everyday lives. It is everywhere, from the gas station logo to the cover of our favorite book. I find art really enjoyable.

One form of enjoyable art is produced right next door in Sonoma County ? stickers!

Mrs. Grossman's Paper Company is in Petaluma. The company has been around since 1979 and will be celebrating its 35th anniversary. This amazing company started out as what you might call a happy accident.

Andrea Grossman, who founded the company, had a good friend who owned a small gift shop. This particular friend wanted a small, red, heart sticker to decorate her customers' gift wrappings. Andrea cut a heart out of construction paper, sent the heart to a label printer and forgot about it.

When the heart stickers arrived, she was shocked! Instead of being printed on flat sheets, as she had expected, the stickers were printed on rolls. Andrea knew that this idea would be extremely popular, so she debuted a few sticker designs as "Stickers by the Yard." Andrea was right ? the sticker roll idea stuck.

Over the years, Mrs. Grossman's Paper Company has gotten bigger and bigger. Today, Andrea's son, Jason Grossman, oversees the company, blending the sticker company with his own wine label printing business. Mrs. Grossman's Paper Company hosts the only sticker factory tour in the world and is the only sticker producer that still prints its stickers in the United States. All the other sticker producers have moved their factories out of the United States.

I set out to tour the only sticker factory in the United States. The factory has an ideal setting, right by a beautiful lake in Petaluma. Before the tour, I had a delicious lunch in downtown Petaluma, which features vintage clothing shops, antique furniture stores and restaurants. I went to Caf? Zazzle, which features great vegetarian options, an extensive beverage selection and a fantastic kids menu (not to mention the wonderful key lime pie).

I had a delicious chicken curry and most of my mom's key lime pie. It is open seven days a week, Tuesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. On Sunday and Monday the hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

After this scrumptious lunch, I headed over to Mrs. Grossman's Sticker Factory, where I was greeted by our tour guide, Kathy.

Kathy told me the factory produces five million stickers every day, using six presses.

She explained the basic process for making the stickers. They start out with a 5,000-foot paper roll and apply one color at a time. That is when the presses come into play. Those presses run for 20 hours a day and in that day one press can produce 800,000 stickers.

The stickers are sent to the packaging machine that can package 120 strips in a single minute. Mrs. Grossman's has a completely original laser web machine, too. The laser strikes at 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Of course, after this process there is a lot of waste left over. Kathy said Mrs. Grossman's Paper Company recycles every bit of that waste. The recycled material is made into egg cartons and cereal boxes.

Mrs. Grossman's is the first company to be awarded the Green Business Award.

Next, I saw the section where the stickers are stored. It was great to see all of the rolls of stickers ? where else can you see Valentine's Day, Halloween and Christmas all in one room? There were holiday stickers, owl stickers, princess stickers, you name it, they had a sticker of it! Kathy told us the company does make custom stickers, along with foil stamp, sparkle and embossed stickers. The company also produces wine labels.

Another really neat aspect of the factory ? the employees are allowed to bring their dogs to work. I met Rango, Jason Grossman's adorable puppy. The public relations representative for the company, Barbara Marino, told me that Mrs. Grossman was a dog-lover.

She also said Mrs. Grossman may be coming back from retirement to help her company celebrate its 35th anniversary. During the last 35 years Mrs. Grossman's designed more than 2,500 stickers. What better way to brighten up your day than with a cheerful sticker?

I highly recommend visiting Mrs. Grossman's Sticker Factory. Tours are available by reservation Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. Admission for adults- is $7 and for children younger than 12 admission costs $5. Children younger than 3 may tour free-of-charge. The maximum number of people per tour is 15, however, school's are welcome to take field trips. Every guest receives free stickers during the tour and there is a great gift shop. It makes a great day trip for Lake County residents.

The factory is a place children and adults can enjoy, with a sticker art craft at the end of the tour. The machinery is fascinating and seeing all of the stickers on the rolls is amazing. It is mind-blowing that such an amazing factory is located so close by. It was inspiring to hear about how a business that started out on Andrea Grossman's dining room table became a national sensation, which now boasts a 110,000 square-foot corporate headquarters, 90 employees and some very cute dogs!

Julianne Carter is an 11-year-old homeschool student who enjoys music, reading, writing, history and playing dolls.